Oedipus Rex is the first drama I need to learn in EDU3217. The drama is about King Laius and Queen Jocasta of Thebes. Laius learns of a prophecy from the Oracle of Delphi that they will have a son who will kill his father and marry his mother. When their son is born, King Laius has the newborn child left on a hillside to die so that the prophecy cannot be fulfilled. Oedipus is then found by a shepherd and raised by King Polybus of Corinth. As a man, Oedipus hears the prophecy and leaves Delphi and Corinth for fear of fulfilling it. On the road, Oedipus encounters an arrogant, rich nobleman who orders him off the road. Oedipus kills the man, who turns out to be his father, King Laius. Oedipus ends up outside the city of Thebes, which is terrorized by a Sphinx and can only be saved by someone who can answer the Sphinx's riddle. Oedipus answers the riddle, the Sphinx kills herself and Oedipus is honored by the whole city. Queen Jocasta has lost her husband and Oedipus is deemed a good match for her, so they marry, fulfilling the prophecy. When Oedipus becomes aware that the prophecy has come true, he blames himself for all that has happened and blinds himself.
After reading the script, I thought it is a good drama. In pages 159 to 187 of the drama, I get a clear idea of what this story is going to be about. I am not only reminded of the intelligent Oedipus’s previous uncovering of the riddle about the Sphinx, but I am also informed of a new fate that he will soon suffer from according to Tiresias, the blind prophet. Oedipus will learn what his fate is only after he has solved the riddle that Tiresias told him upon his visit to the royal house of Thebes. The riddle refers to King Laius’s killer, whom Oedipus is looking for. The riddle goes “A stranger, you may think, who lives among you, he soon will be revealed a native Theban but he will take no joy in the revelation. Blind who now has eyes, beggar who now is rich, he will grope his way toward a foreign soil, a stick tapping before him step by step. Revealed at last, brother and father both to the children he embraces, to his mother son and husband both—he sowed the loins his father sowed, he spilled his father’s blood!”. Oedipus must figure out who and what Tiresias is referring to before he can attempt to help the city relieve itself from the burdens of the plague. The readers know already that this riddle is of Oedipus’s own fate. I am aware that as king who has married his own mother, he has yet to be informed about this unlawful and displeasing union. With this information, I am aware of the tragic moment that is about to occur with his discovery of this knowledge. This lack of knowledge or ignorance of family relationships makes Oedipus a tragic character that will at some point fall from his greatness because of the tragic flaws he possesses. It is this revelation or discovery of his position that will bring his fate in life.
From the prologue of the drama, I was able to learn more about Oedipus than what I knew from his myth. I was able to get a better understanding of how Oedipus played his role as king and how he reacted with the troubled Thebans. Serving as a perfect example of a tragic character, Oedipus is a highly renowned and prosperous king. He even refers to his own greatness when he first addresses the kneeling Thebes. He says, “ . . .you all know me, the world knows my fame: I am Oedipus.” With pride he exclaims to a priest kneeling before him with homage to his success and with hope that he might end the plague, “You can trust me. I am ready to help, I’ll do anything. Right from this moment, I felt that Oedipus genuinely wanted to do good for his fellow Thebans and that he sincerely wanted to help them because it hurts him more than the plague hurts with such pain and suffering.
Lastly, I think I will do a second reading of Oedipus Rex. In the next reading, I want to look out for moments when the king’s tone toward the city of Thebes changes as well as for the climactic tragic moment when Oedipus discovers his true identity. I also am interested to see if the people continue to have hope and faith in their leader as they seem to have so much of in the beginning or if they start to question him and believe that it was him who killed King Laius. =)
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